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Eurogamer writer criticizes critics, loses his job, the Kraken is released

deactivated-5c79c3cfce222 · 2012-10-26 10:10:43

Does System Wars exist in an alternate reality? I just think it's odd that I haven't seen a thread about this whole enormous, bloated mess. Did I miss it somehow? It's basically Gerstmanngate 2: The Reckoning. A big ol' s***tornado that just keeps on digging up dirt and tossing it out into the stratosphere.I know y'all suck at clicking links and reading articles, so I'll quote the entire recap.Well, that was exciting. The entire English-speaking world of videogames journalism just about convulsed itself into a coma yesterday because someone did that rarest of things in the English-speaking world of videogames journalism spoke openly, frankly and truthfully about something. If you've been having trouble keeping up with the dizzying pace of developments, allow us to lead you gently through the most concise and accurate timeline we can manage.WEDNESDAY 24TH OCTOBER- Eurogamer publishes an article by regular columnist Robert Florence, entitled 'A Table Of Doritos'. You can read it in its original form here. It's a critique of some questionable ethical practices in games journalism, which names three writers specifically Geoff Keighley of Spike TV, Lauren Wainwright of UK trade weekly MCV, and Dave Cook of website VG24/7. None are attacked outright, but the strongest criticism is reserved for Keighley and Cook, with Wainwright used only to illustrate a particular point about how a perception of suspicion can arise even when groundless.- The article, which centres around an image of Keighley and some events at this year's Games Media Awards, attracts many complaints on Twitter from some of the journalists named or implicated in it, including Cook and Wainwright. These complaints provoke an angry response from John Walker, an editor on popular PC gaming site Rock, Paper, Shotgun, who pens a piece on his personal blog, which is then widely circulated. It attracts a large number of comments, including this one from a poster claiming to be a former games journalist for a UK print publisher.THURSDAY 25TH OCTOBER- Eurogamer removes the section of Robert Florence's article relating to Lauren Wainwright, and attaches an apology to the piece. The site explicitly states that its action is 'Following receipt of a complaint from Lauren Wainwright'. Wainwright has previously tweeted that she considers the comments in the piece 'libelous' [sic].(Although Eurogamer claims 'The article otherwise remains as originally published', in fact David Cook's name has also been removed.)- Robert Florence announces via his Twitter account that as a result of this act of censorship he will no longer be working for Eurogamer. He absolves the site from blame in a series of tweets:'I want to thank @tombramwell and @eurogamer for having me on board. I was saddened to hear what they've been through this past 24 hours. Yesterday was my last piece for Eurogamer. Here it is in amended form. [link]. I stand by every word of the original piece. I'm sure you understand that, with it being amended, I have to step down from doing the columns. Thanks if you ever read any of them. I'm as proud of the Eurogamer columns as I am of anything I've done in gaming. Again, thanks to @tombramwell for being one of the good guys. Also, don't blame Eurogamer for this. The threat of legal action brings unbelievable pressure. I am clear on who the bad guys are in this.'- Lauren Wainwright issues three tweets professing to be pleased with Eurogamer's actions and accepting their apology.- At this point a storm of criticism erupts online, most of it aimed at Eurogamer and Wainwright. John Walker posts a second article on his personal blog, entitled 'An Utter Disgrace' and again attacking the journalists who had defended the practices highlighted by Florence. Like the first it attracts a large number of comments, almost all supportive of his view. The piece includes the following passage (our emphasis):'Wainwright states that she is simply a massive fan of this unreleased game, and with what I believe to be naive enthusiasm, hasnt thought through the negative implications of making her Twitter page look like its sponsored. It isnt. Even though Wainwright publicly lists Square Enix, publishers of Tomb Raider (screencap for when that inevitably gets edited out), as one of her current employers.'- At around this point, Lauren Wainwright locks her Twitter account, which is illustrated with artwork from Square Enix's new Tomb Raider game and which has come under intense scrutiny. She claims this is as a result of people sending her abuse. A search of the social-media platform does indeed reveal a large number of tweets directed at her, many of which are angry and a minority of which are crude personal insults.- As the furore grows, Michael French the editor in chief at Intent Media, who are the publishers of MCV, the organisers of the Games Media Awards and Wainwright's employer issues a tweet:'Some clarity: There was no legal action taken from Intent. We asked Eurogamer to remove cruel content about a staff member. They obliged.'- This rather ambiguous statement attracts numerous questions in response, all of which go unanswered. While it states that no legal action was taken, it doesn't say whether any was threatened. Some people note that it refers to legal action from Intent Media, whereas Eurogamer's apology refers to a complaint from Lauren Wainwright, not her employer.(As we write this article on the morning of Friday 26th, French has as yet issued no clarification on any of the points raised in response to his tweet. His only further comment was a reply to a tweet by Colin Campbell, a former UK journalist and magazine publisher now employed by IGN in California, which accused those who were criticising Eurogamer and Wainwright of 'sententious, self-righteous cant'.)- Robert Florence reacts to the claims made in French's post by tweeting 'And as for these suggestions that there were no legal threats I won't be made to look a liar. I was told what I was told.' Eurogamer make no comment.- By this point, Wainwright's actions have unleashed the Streisand Effect ...

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blue_hazy_basic

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#151 blue_hazy_basic Moderator

Member since 2002 • 30854 Posts

[QUOTE="tormentos"][QUOTE="blue_hazy_basic"] Yes we should stop using MC against the PS3 and altogether. Thankfully you're hopefully not a big enough hypocrite to say otherwise!

See now that is the spirit for you and me meta score don't count or this site for that mater,i guess we are above other gamers in that regard.

No this site is fine. We should stop using metacritic altogether, like you said, as evidenced here by the corrupt nature of the reviews it picks.

12 years ago

tormentos

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#152 tormentos

Member since 2003 • 33793 Posts

[QUOTE="blue_hazy_basic"] No this site is fine. We should stop using metacritic altogether, like you said, as evidenced here by the corrupt nature of the reviews it picks.

See this is the problem.. How can that be this site is one of those unreliable ones that count toward meta. In fact this one fire a reviewer to keep thousands of dollars in advertisement how can you consider them reliable.? I already had a new epic phrase to use and you ruin it..

12 years ago